New multifunctional polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-ZnO/Ag composite electrospun nanofiber membranes consisting of pineal-type, flower-type, and sea-urchin-type ZnO morphologies were prepared using a single-capillary electrospinning technique, hydrothermal ZnO synthesis, and Ag reduction. The various ZnO architectures exhibited differences in photocatalytic activity and UV-shielding efficiency, and were ranked as follows: sea-urchin type>flower type>pineal type. Sea-urchin-type ZnO features a higher surface-to-volume ratio than other ZnO architectures do because of its distinctive structure, thus yielding higher performance. The present study demonstrated that self-standing PAN-ZnO/Ag composite fiber membranes, especially those with the sea-urchin-type ZnO structure, can be applied in multifunctional textiles such as water purification filters and antibacterial and UV-shielding clothes. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015, 53, 262-269